Democracy seriously is crying for leadership in Africa. It needs the leadership of a country with the stature of Nigeria, as in the case of Zimbabwe, South Africa’s President Thabo Mbeki having abandoned his claim to such leadership. Yar’Adua came into office through the machinations of fraudulence, but there is nothing that says he could not do the right thing by championing democracy in Africa, including good governance, civil rights, gender equality, free and fair elections and the independence of an free press. That’s a path that could lead to his own redemption.
President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua of Nigeria must be commended for the principled position his government has taken in confronting President Robert Mugabe’s dictatorship in Zimbabwe. There are those who argue that Yar’Adua chastising Mugabe is like the pot calling kettle black; he doesn’t have locus standi to talk about stolen and fraudulent elections in any country. It is like George Bush’s government talking about unfair elections in Russia when Bush was elected in 2000 on basis of the Supreme Court judgment by judges appointed by his father. It would seem that the so-called “Giant of Africa” is roaring to reclaim its rightful role, tarnished beyond imagination by the tyrannical dictatorship of former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
At the recently concluded African heads of state meeting at the Egyptian resort town of Sharm El-Sheikh, Nigeria joined fearless Botswana, Zimbabwe’s neighborhood, in calling for Mugabe to be barred from the AU meeting. It is reported, as told by Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade, that when the Nigerian president “confronted Mugabe over the Zimbabwe election, Mugabe told the leader that Nigeria’s own election was dirtier.” Yes, we must acknowledge what Mugabe said as a right description of the election that took place in Nigeria in April of 2007, and agree that the election was as dirty as what happened in Zimbabwe. There the similarities stop.
Even the castigation from Mugabe against Har’Adua, Nigeria’s foreign minister, Ojo Maduekwe restated the country’s case, stating “"We express our strong displeasure at the process leading to the election and its outcome ... we therefore do not consider the outcome of that election as a basis for moving forward.” That’s what I call standing firm on the side of doing the right thing.
I must state from the onset that I am no friend of the ruling party in Nigeria, and as most readers of my columns have known, I have expended a lot of fingers on the keyboard in writing and castigating the former President of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo, as one of the most tyrannical dictators and criminals that Nigeria ever produced in its leadership. Obasanjo abrogated the democratic process in Nigeria by single-handedly picking Umaru Yar’Adua as the presidential candidate of the PDP over the objection of his party hierarchy. He proceeded to manufacture charges, and had the so-called Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, under the much-ballyhooded Nuhu Ribadu file bogus criminal and corruption charges against his political opponents, especially the Vice-President Atiku Abubakar. As international, African Union and civil society observers later confirmed, there was hardly any election in Nigeria, but still the notorious chairman of the Nigerian Federal Elections Commission Maurice Iwu went on to declare Mr. Yar’Adua as having won the election with more than 26 million votes.
Ordinarily, Nigerians should have taken to the streets to protest, but they didn’t which was exactly what Obasanjo was counting on, the docility of Nigerians to protest his high crimes, especially given the heavy flogging they had been subjected to under his rule, and their need to seize any opening be it a crack, to have a fresh air. As Nigerians had started trusting the activist courts in Nigeria, especially the Supreme Court, they decided to wait and see how the courts would rule on these fraudulent elections. The courts didn’t disappoint. The Supreme Court’s first ruling was on one of the most egregious and blatant results announced by Maurice Iwu who had declared his mentor, Andy Uba, as governor of the State of Anambra. Uba was one of Obasanjo hand-picked sacred cows, who with his brother, had terrorized Anambra State.
On the 14th of June, 2007, Andy Uba was ordered by the Supreme Court to vacate the office of governor of Anambra State, in favor of Peter Obi who was to serve out his term until March 17 2010. Why was this case so important? First, it showed the continued independence of the Nigerian courts; secondly, Nigerians waited with anticipation what the reaction of Yar’Adua would be to the ruling. Yar’Adua immediately praised the court rulings, and said that Andy Uba must obey the rulings. Why this is important is because Nigerians knew that under the old regime of Obasanjo’s, the court’s decision would have been ignored and Andy Uba would have remained governor of Anambra state till today.
Especially poignant as well, is that Yar’Adua had vowed that he would vacate the office of president if the courts ruled against his election. The courts for whatever reason, certainly not based on the fraudulent elections, or taking cognizance that Nigerians needed a little peace from the years of brutalization by Obasanjo, decided to confirm his election.
There is no doubt that Musa Yar’Adua bears as much blame as Obasanjo for his fraudulent election. However, it was Obasanjo who picked him, it was Obasanjo who abrogated the democratic process. We have seen many now applauded families in this country whose parents were hooligans and murderers, but have redeemed themselves. We should judge the son by his actions, and not his father’s, although the Bible might say otherwise.
Democracy seriously is crying for leadership in Africa. It needs the leadership of a country with the stature of Nigeria, as in the case of Zimbabwe, South Africa’s President Thabo Mbeki having abandoned his claim to such leadership. Yar’Adua came into office through the machinations of fraudulence, but there is nothing that says he could not do the right thing by championing democracy in Africa, including good governance, civil rights, gender equality, free and fair elections and the independence of an free press. That’s a path that could lead to his own redemption.
To comment on this article, please click here.
You are not logged in.
You must log in to post comments on Africana Media.